VANCOUVER — Mark Recchi scored his first goal since Game 1 of the second-round series with Philadelphia tonight at the Rogers Arena.

After the Bruins lost to the Canucks, 3-2, in overtime in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, he decided that the goal combined with his five hits and two total shots on goal were enough reason to give his critics a tongue-lashing.

“I’m not worried about my critics, I worry about my teammates,” said the future Hall-of-Famer. “Critics, they’re not in the dressing room every day. They don’t know what I bring to the table every day. Really, they can kiss my ass, really.

“So I’m not too worried about it. My teammates are all I care about, and my coaching staff. So I’ve got a job to do and that’s focus on making sure I’m helping in the dressing room, helping in other areas and playing physical, skating, trying to create things.”

Recchi’s inability to register a point in the previous eight games — including missing an open net in Game 1 — and his overall lackluster play at even strength and on the power play had many, including this blog, asking for his role in the Bruins’ scheme to be reduced.

Of course, Recchi was on the ice for the game-losing goal against tonight. If he had any speed left in his legs, maybe he catches up to the Andrew Ference pass or is able break up the Canucks’ play. And with the amount of power-play minutes he logs, he probably shouldn’t go so long between goals and points. But, heck, he finally scored a goal so all the criticism is somehow unfair.

The celebrating of Recchi’s abilities in Boston have far overshadowed any criticisms. If a guy’s not producing he has to understand there’s going to be some backlash. I always thought Recchi was one of those guys that had a grasp of the whole dynamic.

Regardless, Recchi’s goal and the Bruins’ ability to finally break through on the power play were certainly rare positives in an otherwise ugly night. Whether they were worthy of placing ones lips in an unclean place, I’m not sure.

[…] The first (and oldest) star Zoomer’s favourite hockey player, 43-year-old Mark Recchi, continues to defy his age – and his critics. With another two goals last night to lead his Boston Bruins to an 8-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks, Recchi becomes the oldest player to score a goal in the Stanley Cup finals. Earlier in the series, the Kamloops, B.C.-native was hearing whispers that he might be getting too old to keep up. His response? He promptly went out and scored three goals over two games and told the critics to “kiss my ass.” […]

[…] Boston Bruins: Mark Recchi scored this beautiful goal on Saturday night, then advised anyone who didn’t like his performance in the previous several playoff games that they should kiss his ass. […]

[…] Boston Bruins: Mark Recchi scored this beautiful goal on Saturday night, then advised anyone who didn’t like his performance in the previous several playoff games that they should kiss his ass. […]

But he skates forward instead of standing in the way of his winger to at least give FERENCE an an extra second to make a play that would have prevented the rush. It happens fast but everything stems from that and that’s why I won’t criticize the other players on ice.

Picking your guy up on face offs is something you learn at a very young age regardless of where the face off occurs. Recchi’s Pee Wee days are far away and he does believe in himself a little too much with regards to his skills set i find.

Bernard- are you talking about the OT goal? There’s no spin. At the faceoff Recchi goes right the wall to support the chip off the glass. Watch the replay. Recchi has not been the best player on the ice but keep your facts straight.

[…] being said, he wasn’t getting a whole lot done on the power play, something that fueled his critics. Recchi finally found the back of the net on the man advantage in Game 2 on Saturday, breaking an […]

Recchi leaves the face off spinning around like Terrell Owens would on a long passing game, leaving Ference with no puck support and untouched incoming pressure. He is also lazy at making it towards the boards, which was Ference’s only option. That’s not hockey.

Recchi played like Bergy was going to lose the draw. He wanted to intercept the puck and shoot from 3o feet in hope of scoring and tell his critics you can kiss my ass now. Selfish. Unthinkable from a 20 year vet. Fresh legs please, hurry up CJ.

Do you think Bergeron would have this same response if he deflected in a puck on the PP after 11 games of utter futility? And yet we’re supposed to believe that this “classy, HOF leader” has been some great example for Bergeron and others. I don’t think so. Recchi thinks he is beyond reproach and Julien reinforces that by rolling him out 16 mins a night even when he’s looking awful and producing nothing. It was a big goal last night, but Recchi isn’t much of an asset on the ice. Since he’s not scoring much, he’s still clinging to his “in the room” heroics (what leader really does that?….”You should see me in the room.”) Yeah, right. Sounds like an old man denying reality in order to try and create a perceived need for himself. His behavior whenever he’s questioned or disagrees with something (Ference and the PA) never matches up to that of a guy who can truly take the heat or the high road. What gets whispered about Recchi in the hallways is closer to the truth.

The guy was emotional after a really tough loss. So he reacts a bit poorly to a question about his personal play. Big deal. I’m glad he’s upset. They all should be. They need to play with more fire out there.

Recchi is not the most culpable player out there by a mile on that goal. This is unfair criticism. I also think Recchi shouldnt be out there as much, but this is not the right area to criticize the guy.

The last goal stems from Recchi not picking his guy up at face up. He needs to at least stand in the way an extra second to give Ference some extra time.

No, Rex wants to score and rewrite the book. History will not remember how selfish and rookie like his decision making was on that face off. Not a word from him on that last play either. That tells you a lot about his very being. Me, me, me, nobody but me coach…The good news is both CJ and MR won’t be back next year.

Recchi could have gotten a hat trick last night and it still wouldn’t be enough of a reason for Claude to play him as much as he is. Its like Claude is afraid to hurt Recchis feelings by limiting his ice time. If only Z’s shot could have broken Recchi’s ankle on its way into the net.

keith your a typical bruin hoopal head fan..recchi is a relic. he got lucky last night puck goes off his leg.over the WHOLE PLAYOFFS hes been below average.but he got a goal last night so he’s awsome again…typical boston fan

I still think Recchi needs his minutes shortened. He can be more productive if he isn’t gassed.

He also got that goal in classic Recchi style-schooping up the garbage in front of the net and turning it into gold.

I like Recchi-I think he is probably one of the best veteran leaders you could have on your team, but I still think 20 minutes a night is too much for him.

Although last night the reason the team lost was due to failure to control the puck-I don’t know what the turnover stat was for the Bruins but it had to be brutal-it looked brutal to me and I wasn’t keeping count.

I really don’t think the criticism on recchi is all that warranted. There have been worse players on the ice during these playoffs? Where is the Seguin criticism? He had an ok game last night but he was downright awful in game 1. Way too many bad turnovers and our inability to clear our zone cost us both games, not Recchi.

What did I tell ya? In the last MK blog about reducing his time, in the middle of all the naysayers, I chimed in with “Recchi will come through in the clutch.” He did! Good on ya Rex! Keep it up! Now let’s see if we can get Z to do a little better job of clearing the zone…past the blue line. And then maybe we can encourage Ryder to shoot on goal a little more often too while we’re at it. Other than that, loved the way the B’s played tonight. We should’ve taken it.